Water ski bindings historically have been a substantial source of challenge for those attempting to satisfy and balance the desired characteristics for such bindings. Of course, safety is a prime consideration. The binding is a focal point for the interaction between the skier and the ski, often while travelling at a relatively high speed. Thus, the binding must be extremely sturdy. In addition, certain forms of bindings should release the skier from the ski at appropriate times (but not release the skier at inappropriate times).
Size adjustment, so one binding can readily serve widely varied foot sizes, is another desired characteristic which presents its own challenges, particularly in light of the other desired properties.
Complexity of construction and/or assembly are quite typical in water ski bindings as well as excessive wear and fatigue of the pliable foot-holding pieces.
It is now commonplace for a water ski binding to incorporate front mounting apparatus which is movable along the ski, for pliable material to hold the forward part of the foot of the skier. Alternatively, and perhaps more typically, the rear mounting apparatus, for the pliable material to hold the rear part of the foot, is movable.
Quite typically, at the rear, a horseshoe-type mounting configuration is employed in which the pliable material is extended generally horizontally into a slot or space. Typically, screws or connectors pass through the material to hold it in place. Calapp et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,939 is a variation of this.
The Calapp et al. patent also incorporates a movable rear mounting for adjustment purposes. A pair of posts are screwed into the ski on either side. A pair of cams, connected to the posts, press against detents along a heel mounting piece to press the piece down against springs acting against projections on the posts and the underside of the heel piece. Turning the cams permits the heel piece to rise, urged by the springs, for adjustment along the ski.
Another form of binding, movable at the rear, incorporates elongated openings on both sides for large threaded screw members. The openings are shaped so that the screw member heads or structures near such heads will lock the mounting, when screwed down, in a selected one of a variety of positions for the openings along the screw members.
With regard to holding the pliable material at the rear, it is also rather typical to provide a heel plate with holes along and into its outside vertical surfaces. Then the material, simply, can be held to the heel plate along that wall by passing screws through the material into the holes. Mounting structure, of course, can also readily be employed over the pliable material with the screws passing therethrough before entering the material and the heel plate.
Concerning the pliable material for the forward part of the foot and mounting apparatus therefor, the horseshoe-type configuration already discussed is also readily employed, except an open toe, at the front, is extremely common so that the specific horseshoe shape, in such case, would not apply. However, the generally horizontal slot with the material inserted adopts the same principle.
Another form, at the front, has the pliable material along the side of a mounting plate structure and also extending underneath the plate structure. Underneath, the plate structure is provided with shaped, rather long grooves; and the pliable material is also shaped to mate with the form of the grooves. Connectors from the underside of the plate structure pass through holes along portions of the pliable material under the plate structure. Such holes can be stretched over enlarged tops for the projections which then serve to hold the material.
Concerning this form, and movability at the front, the described projections can slide along openings running along the sides of a foundation plate. An array of small openings running along the center of the foundation plate, then, is employed to lock the mounting plate in selected positions. The mounting plate incorporates a thin elongated structure, on the underside of the plate, attached at only one end of such structure. A rotatable cam, under the thin structure, then is turned to bend the structure downward and insert projections on the structure into mating openings of the foundation plate array of openings. Turning the cam further allows the structure to unbend, removing the projections from the openings and freeing the mounting plate for adjustment and re-locking, by a further turning of the cam.
Another form, movable at the front, adopts a foundation plate with a track and a mounting piece for the flexible material on the track. The foundation plate, along one side, is provided with an elongated structure having a series of transverse slots, each slot providing a different position adjustment. To lock the mounting piece, with the flexible material thereon, a locking member is rotatably mounted along the mounting piece and has a mating structure for the slots which can be rotated into a slot or rotated in the other direction out of the slot. A thin plastic projection of the member acts against the structure in which the transverse slots are present to hold the mating structure in a slot and to resist the rotation out of the slot.
The above description and forms exemplify the challenge and difficulty in achieving safety, durability and simplicity of use and construction in water ski bindings. The present subject matter addresses these concerns in a comprehensive, integrated manner.